We help Morinaga ease out of their growth pressure by solving the new tension of modern moms and opening a new opportunity for brand to play in such competitive market.
Morinaga, a Japanese-based imported formula milk, has getting traction across Vietnamese moms in the past years through their 2019-2020 communication campaign messaged “Strong Mom - Strong Baby” (“Mẹ Vững Vàng - Bé Khỏe Tự Tin”).
However, positioning as a milk brand promoting “Japanese parenting style”, the brand only targets to a market of 4% share in total in Vietnam. With its current share at 1.2% and the top player in the same category at 1.8%, winning in 4% market share is a tough job.
After 2 years of working on the thematic message “Strong Mom - Strong Baby”, the brand platform cannot be expanded any further and is getting diluted in their communication.
The original creative execution focuses on “Mom” though the end user is “Baby”, which makes the product appearance coercive rather than naturally placed.
While Morinaga is the number 1 milk brand in Japan, it is less recognized in Vietnam market, compared to its competitors. The challenge is to increase Morinaga’s market share from 2% to 3% in the end of 2021.
We identify 3 problems: Brand’s benefit, Product’s role, Market share. Our solution is simplified and energized as:
1. Brand’s benefit: During 2 years with platform “Strong Mom - Strong Baby”, brand mostly focuses on Mom while the benefits for end-users (babies) have not been clearly stated.
2. Product’s role: Under the effect of Mom, Product’s role seems to be diluted. It appears weak and does not make a strong enough impression to remember.
3. Market share: Client chooses to directly compete with other Japanese brands although they only take 2.4% of Vietnam’s milk market in total. The fact of TOP 3 Western competitors accounting for up to 25.6% the market share seems to be neglected.
There are many reasons that may lead to Mom’s dissatisfaction with their current infant milk. But the most common one that will force moms to make an immediate change of milk brand is CONSTIPATION.
Constipation is a serious issue that has negative effect on the baby’s development, leading to other illnesses as well as causing stress and worry for moms. In fact, a notable amount of Mom buyers have to stop using well-known Western infant milks (especially Western ones like Similac, Friso, Enfamil) to prevent constipation in their babies. They now believe in “cool milk” to alleviate baby’s constipation.
With BB536, Bifidus factor, Lactoferrin, Morinaga helps alleviate constipation and support baby’s digestion.
Communication Platform
Creative Mesage
We produce and execute communication plan in full year, 2021:
- Re-cover (rewrite the lyric of song “Baby shark”)
- Create aligned owned assets and run media effectively (digital approach)
- Full MV in ~30 seconds aired on digital (entertainment channels);
- Shorten version (6-15 seconds) act as the TVC aired on digital/ Youtube/ other media;
- Key visual (using digital/ LCD/ Facebook/ Store signs/Standee in event/ other media
- Create PR/content/social to amplify the new creative idea.
We have successfully created a competitive brand advantage with a communication platform closely linked to the product's physical and emotional benefits.
The main image of the campaign is used to deploy at a wide range of touchpoints, including sale materials and gifts for mother & baby.
